Proper posting critical for no-parking signs

August 14, 2014|Dan Hartzell | The Road Warrior

Q: I need clarification on the attached photo that shows two 'no parking' signs on the 600 block of Main Street in Northampton. The first sign has a double arrow. Does this mean no parking on the opposite (left) side of the street as well as the right side where the sign is posted? The next sign shows an arrow pointing to the right. Does this signify the end of the no-parking boundary, or the beginning? I'm sure it's a simple answer, but a couple of years ago, a police officer told me the left-pointing arrows on these signs meant parking was prohibited on the opposite side of the street as well as the side the sign is on. He called them 'courtesy' signs, which I find hard to believe. Some of my neighbors have received tickets or warnings regarding this.

— David Behler, Northampton

A: The no-parking signs with arrows that are intended to designate prohibited parking areas at curbside are simple in concept, but they can be confusing, especially when they're mispositioned or posted without the right level of precision.

A sign at the beginning of the no-parking zone features the no-parking symbol with an arrow pointing left, in the direction of travel, and a companion sign at the end of the zone points right, while signs with arrows pointing in both directions can be spaced appropriately between those two "end" placards.

I suspected that municipalities often use these signs as a means of avoiding a costlier but crystal-clear method of marking no-parking zones: painting the curbing yellow, and maintaining those markings. However, I found that yellow curbing by itself does not necessarily mark an enforceable no-parking zone. More on that later.

I always assumed that this particular model of no-parking signs, designed to work together, should face directly toward the street; otherwise, the arrows do not point toward one another, confusing the intended message. My method makes them a little tricker for passing motorists to see, but it's our responsibility as drivers to check all signage and abide by the corresponding regulations.

I would have sworn that most of the examples of these signs that I've seen, including those posted on my own street, faced directly toward the street. But it turned out that my check-engine light was on, and the code indicated a fault in my engine-control module.

The signs in South Whitehall Township, where I live, and in Allentown, and Northampton, and probably most other municipalities, I soon found, normally are posted on a 45-degree angle, partially facing motorists. Rebooting my engine computer by strolling outside to check the signs on my street, I realized they're on 45-degree angles.

"I know what you're saying," he replied, but said in that position, "people are going to say they don't see them," prompting motorists to contest parking tickets.

Sometimes the signs are mispositioned — improperly installed, or having been turned by the freeze-thaw cycle, or hit by vehicles, or vandalized — to face directly at motorists, like stop signs. That can lead to your possible interpretation, David, that parking is prohibited on the opposite side of the street. That's clearly not the intent, Grazer said.

He did say the authority receives a fair number of reports about this type of sign being mispositioned.

"We've had pretty many requests to have them straightened out" over the years, he said.

And that's what Northampton officials found when they visited your block, David, to check out the signs there. When I visited last week, I found them to be all over the place with regard to positioning.

"They should be on a slight angle," Northampton Borough Manager Gene Zarayko said Wednesday. "There were some signs that needed to be fixed, and our public works director fixed them."

Some signs were repositioned, and in some cases "we put new signs up," added public works supervisor Steve Gerny.

I didn't get a chance to check out the new format, David. Let me know what you think of the borough's solution. Zarayko noted that parking demand has risen in and around the 600 block of Main Street with the renewed popularity of a nearby business. Even so, two vehicles that were parked in the prohibited zone on the westbound side of Main when I visited had no tickets on their windshields — at least, not at 10:30 on a weekday morning.

Meanwhile, I stand corrected on the proper positioning of the arrow signs, and on the function of yellow curbing as a visual cue to help motorists remember where parking is verboten.